A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied Michael Crane's request to act as his own attorney in his murder trial.

Crane, 32, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. On Monday, he appeared before Judge Warren Granville to argue that he intended to represent himself, whether Granville allowed him to or not. And he told Granville that he was not subject to Arizona law and did not intend to follow Granville's orders.

Instead, as espoused by some anti-government groups, Crane insisted that he would follow the Uniform Commercial Code, a late-19th-century document adopted by many states to help coordinate trade. Despite the anti-government theory that it trumps all other law, it has nothing to do with criminal proceedings. Similar untenable arguments have been made in Arizona courts and elsewhere regarding Maritime Law.

Crane is charged with first-degree murder in the January deaths of a Paradise Valley couple and a Phoenix man who were killed in two separate home invasions. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Police and prosecutors believe that on Jan. 26, Crane broke into the Phoenix home of Bruce Gaudet, shot and killed him and set fire to his condominium before stealing his car. On Jan. 30, investigators allege, Crane broke into the Paradise Valley home of Glenna and Lawrence Shapiro, robbed them, shot them and then set the house on fire. Both died.

Crane also faces other numerous criminal charges, including attempted second-degree murder, burglary, theft, misconduct with weapons, armed robbery and aggravated assault, stemming from those and other incidents.

On Monday, Crane told Granville that he did not agree with the limitations that he would have to face if he defended himself in court. Among those limitations, as a homicide suspect, he would not be able to leave jail to visit the crime scenes, interview witnesses outside the jail, or view certain pieces of evidence. Nor would he be able to claim ineffective assistance of counsel in subsequent appeals if convicted.